Training at Home

By: Sensei Joe Roses – 7th Dan –
IOGKF Australia (AOGKF)

Australia (AOGKF) Head instructor, Sensei Joe Roses analyses
training outside of classes and provides advice on how to get
started in setting up a routine and a training area outside of
the dojo in this very informative and interesting feature
article...

Introduction

Dojo training is one
thing, training at home is another. All of us have been guilty
of striking a Kata pose in our living room or sliding with Suri
Ashi across our kitchen floors during everyday life. However,
not many of us have ever trained long enough in our homes to
break a sweat, but why? The Dojo Kun says we should practice
daily, but do you? Most average, modern Dojo’s only open their
doors two to three times per week and classes may only go for
two hours. With 168 hours in a week, this does not seem like
enough to improve rapidly, or is it?

In our Australian Honbu
Dojo (AOGKF), we have adopted the policy: don’t come to training
to get fit, come to training fit! Now to be clear, training in
Goju-ryu will rapidly improve fitness, strength and flexibility,
along with a range of other positive attributes. The aim of this
article and our training policy is for students to understand
that if you are fit you can be good at training, but if you are
fitter you can be great! This means taking some time between
sessions to keep your level up.

There are a number of
ways to train outside the dojo, but first it is important to
analyse what you are trying to achieve. All around the globe I
see a lack of Hojo Undo training in many Dojo’s. This is all due
to fair reasons too; many Dojo’s train in hired halls without
storage facilities or transporting the equipment to the hall is
difficult. Even then, Hojo Undo can be quite repetitive and if
training becomes dull we can lose students to more
‘entertaining’ styles. Therefore, Hojo Undo training tends to
become a practice that is something of a personal preference, if
practiced at all.

To master a martial art
such as Goju-ryu, we need to be proficient in all of its
practices, including its strength and fitness training. Kata
should also not be neglected.

How?

The question then is how
do I fit all this into my home and outside of the Dojo life?
There are two ways:

Allocated time:You set a time frame (Eg: Wednesday between
6pm-7pm) and you train in the aspects you feel you need to focus
on.

Everyday
opportunities/I’ve found some time:If
you find a few minutes to yourself, you have the things you will
need on hand to do a short practice. This may be grabbing your
chishi while your breakfast cooks or practicing Sanchin while
you wait for the kids to get home from school.

These two
systems both work well for those who can allocate time and for
those where time to train outside of the Dojo becomes rare or is
difficult.

SPACE:

I often hear people say,
I wish I had the space for a Dojo at home! Or that they don’t
have room enough to train. Chojun Miyagi Sensei said in one of
his speeches to promote Karate that Karate-do practice does not
require a lot of space – he is correct. It is how you use you
space that is the part that takes a bit of thinking. Again there
are two main ways.

Allocating a designated space

In most homes, the
garage is the most obvious and clever place that, with the
removal of cars, is quick space to be able to train in and is
easy to decorate as a dojo and still be able to be used as
practical housing for your car. The next area that may be
available to you may be your backyard or garden if it is level.

If you live in a small
place or an apartment without such luxuries, don’t despair,
there is always a park, field, or quiet place nearby that you
can call your secret Dojo, you just need to get outside and
discover it.

Having a designated
space gives you the opportunity to have a place to keep your
Hojo undo equipment (like Chishi, Nigiri Game and Sashi), which
due to their clever design take up very little space anyway.

Sensei
Roses making the most of an everyday opportunity in his garage
Dojo.

Setting up a ‘Hidden Dojo’

By Hidden Dojo we mean
that you have everything you will need discretely spread across
your home ready to go, should you decide to seize an everyday
opportunity as mentioned before.

Disguise your Goju-ryu
tools with simple ideas likes having a chishi as a hat rack.
Finding some beautiful jars for decoration in your living room
which you can use as Nigiri Game. Using your Sashi a door stop.
Having a kick pad a cushion for small chidren to sit on. Or
setting a Makiwara up in your garden as if it is a piece of art
amongst trees. These are all sneaky, but effective ways that
visitors won’t even think twice about.

An important thing to remember about your training at home
is not to let it stop you from getting to your classes. You
are your own Sensei when you train alone and outside of the
Dojo. Push yourself, but look after yourself. I suggest
focusing on numerous aspects inone session. Combine cardio
and strenght training with your Kata. I find if you bring
everything back to Kata your body becomes strong, you move
well, you feel good and then you arrive to training in the
best possible shape to get the most benefit out of your
class and from your Sensei.